


Love and War

by CrystalGirl259



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Adult Ninja, Alpha Cole, Alpha Jay, Alpha Skylor, Alpha Zane, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Anacondrai Chen, Anacondrai Nya, Anacondrai Skylor, Beta Lloyd, Beta Nya, F/F, F/M, Human Zane (Ninjago), M/M, Mpreg, Teenage Lloyd, anacondrai kai, omega Kai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28059120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalGirl259/pseuds/CrystalGirl259
Summary: Lloyd Garmadon is not at all like his classmates. Truth be told, Lloyd and his friends have a secret: they are elementals. Lloyd came from a family of elementals, taught by his Uncle Wu the ways of magic. But when the Serpentine Tribes, a snake-human hybrid race determined to drain the world of elemental magic, return to the surface, it's time for Lloyd and his team to help others.Together with Cole, Jay, and Zane, Lloyd embarks on a dark crusade to rid the world of an evil force he never imagined existed until now...
Relationships: Cole/Jay Walker, Cole/Jay Walker/Zane, Cole/Kai (Ninjago), Cole/Kai/Jay Walker/Zane, Cole/Zane (Ninjago), Jay Walker/Zane, Kai & Nya (Ninjago), Kai & Skylor (Ninjago), Kai/Jay Walker, Kai/Zane (Ninjago), Nya/Skylor (Ninjago)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	1. Dawn of the Serpentine

Our story begins in the grand city known as Ninjago as the full moon's nighttime light shined from above. Ninjago City was comprised of many skyscrapers, featuring billboards for advertising businesses. Within the city were dozens of small shops, lively subway systems, small arcades, schools, large banks, parks, cafes, a vast sewer system, and a waterway for boat access. On the streets were buses that drive around regularly, and many parked cars along the sidewalks.

The city of Ninjago was built at the base of a mighty mountain and by a soft, golden beach.

The city was truly an architectural display of wonder and color. Its uniqueness was only matched by the backdrop of a giant, majestic green forest which had helped shape the gigantic city into what it was today. Many different cultures had also left their mark not just on the city's cuisine, but also upon the city's identity. What historically was a city of few cultures had grown into a multicultural hub. It was this that had united the millions of people in Ninjago to this day.

The enormous forest at the edge of the city was tremendous, gloomy, and lush.

Its canopy was ruled by many willows, oak, walnut, and cottonwood trees. They would let through enough dancing beams of sunshine for a hodgepodge of sprouts to rule the insect riddled soils below. Many people from the city were too scared to enter the forest. Only true nature lovers, serious hikers, and the occasional dog walker ever went into the forest. Coiling branches clung to many a tree, and a potpourri of many different flowers, which desperately tried to avoid the shadows to get to the dim bits of sunlight, spruced up the otherwise homogeneous scenery.

A mixture of beastly sounds, most belonged to foraging animals, added large life to the forest.

They were completely out of sync with the sound of the wind blowing gently through the forest. Hidden deep within this forest was an ancient, almost magical place. It went by many names, but the most well-known as 'The Elemental Sphere'. It consisted of a ring of six standing stones, each around thirteen feet high, seven feet wide, and each of them weighed around twenty-five tons. There was a flat, circular stone that sat in the center of the ring that stood around four feet high with a wooden bowl on it.

Standing at either side of the bowl was a father and son.

Both were betas. Now then, normal people don't drag their children out to a remote location in the middle of the night, but this pair was not normal people. They were powerful beings called Elementals. The Elementals were humans born with the ability to control the power over an element of the world and were very rare. The father was a metal Elemental whereas his son was a young earth Elemental. As the son mixed the many different ingredients in the smoking bowl, his father began chanting loudly.

He held up a large gem ring to the starry night sky.

"By the fire of the sun, the rage of the sea, the fury of the wind." He chanted as the clouds began to roll in and the wind picked up speed, howling loudly in their ears.

"Now, Dad?" His young son asked.

"Yes, Chris, now." He smiled and his son, Chris, carefully took the now glowing ring and dropped it in the bubbling bowl.

"I call upon the Eye of Guarigione to look on this ring of healing and give it the power to cure!" The man exclaimed and the ground suddenly rumbled for a brief moment before the six stones began to glow in different colored runes. The colors were orange, dark blue, red, green, light blue, and white.

"The stones!" Chirs cried in excitement. "They're glowing!"

"Oh, yes." The man smiled fondly. "You never forget the first time you see the power of the elements, now, be quiet, this takes around 10% invocation and 90% concentration." He instructed as he turned his attention fully on the bowl. "Guarigione, come to me! Guarigione, I summon thee!" He shouted. The ground began to rumble once more and a green, sickly-looking fog began to fill the small clearing, obscuring their vision.

"What's happening!?" Chris panicked.

"Don't worry, it's working!" His father reassured him. "I tend the fire at the heart of my incantation, I hear the wind that carries my summons to thee! Oh, Guarigione!"

"Dad, are you sure that's happening?" He gulped. Because he was an earth elemental, Chirs could faintly feel something moving through the ground towards them, but because he'd never seen this before he just thought it was what normally happened.

"Of course, what else would it be?" The man scolded. "Oh, Guarigione, at the heart of my incantation, grants us-"

"Dad, I think someone's here!" Chris cried, ready to run as far away from the stones as he could.

"Don't be ridiculous!" He snapped impatiently. "There's no one out here at this time at night, let alone this deep into the forest!" He scoffed as he plucked the ring back out of the bowl. He was about to turn to his son when all of a sudden a nearly a dozen figures burst out of the ground and ambushed the pair. Before the man could call upon his element chains were suddenly shot out by someone hidden in the green mist and trapped him.

"Dad!" Chris screamed but before he could fight or flee, he also found himself also wrapped in chains.

"LET US GO NOW!" The man howled as he tried to use his metal, but found something blocking his powers. He realized the chains were made from vengestone. Before either of them could get a look at their attackers, both Chris and his father had bags placed over their heads, blocking their vision completely, as they were thrown into a chain net and dragged off to some unknown horror...

* * *

The man and Chris grunted in pain as they were suddenly lifted out of the horrible net, bags still over their heads and hands still chained behind their back. They were both forced to walk ahead to some unknown location, the sound of muffled hissing and sinister laughter echoed in their ears. Before the man could do anything, they were forced onto their knees. The bags were ripped off their heads and they both winced at the sudden brightness.

The man and his son cautiously opened their eyes again and were immediately met by an alarming sight.

There was no natural light, the ceiling above dark and rocky, telling them that they were somewhere deep underground. The ground beneath their feet was cracked and dry and the air was hot and dusty. It was so hot Chris felt like he was standing in his pet snake's case. The man could feel his skin begin to sweat and his lungs burned with each breath. It was certainly not a pleasant place to a human. That wasn't what really scared the pair, however.

They noticed immediately that they were chained in vengestone and completely surrounded by reptilian snake humanoids.

They seemed to be split into six different groups. One group had large spikes along with their muscular heads and backs. They were considerably shorter than others and their scales' main colors are orange, black, metallic gray, orange, or light gray. Another group had body markings that were crimson red and snowy white. Chris panicked when he saw some of them had two heads and they had specially long, thin fang, sharper than the others.

Some snakes from the third group had four yellow eyes.

Their colors were green, both dark and light shades and red. A few of these snakes featured a pair of three spikes atop the flats of their heads. The fourth group had a cobra-like hood, with a few of them having a full cobra head. Their colors were generally blue, yellow, and medium or dark gray. Their eyes were red, with concentric circle patterns resembling a large spiral. Another, much smaller group of snake people had a dark teal body color and red eyes with orange irises and looked sort of like an Indian cobra.

They had a regal gold and black marking of a bee on their foreheads.

Unlike the other snakes watching the humans, their bottom halves were tails instead of legs while they still had arms and hands. There was one other snake person there that really caught the man's eye. It was clearly female and she stood ahead of the crowd in front of the frightened father and son. She had thick, dark purple scales, with some parts of her body being black. Unlike the other tribes, however, she also had a tail instead of legs, and this snake woman had a far more human-looking face.

The female had short, black eyelashes and small light purple scales over her face.

She had long dark purple hair in a ponytail and bright, almost glowing red eyes with large, pointed ears and incredibly sharp, dark purple fingernails. She was wearing mostly light amber leather armor. The shoulders were pointy and narrow. Her scaly upper arms were protected by pointed, half-covering rerebraces which sat loosely under the shoulder plates of her armor. The snake woman's lower arms were covered by a pair of dark brown, leather vambraces.

The protective breastplate she had was made from many thick, horizontal layers of brown leather with pointed edges and decoration pieces.

It covered everything from the neck down and ending at her hips, but the shoulder area was fairly exposed to allow for more movement space. Her scent told the man that she was a powerful alpha. She easily towered over the two humans and most of the other snakes present. Her ruby eyes scanned over both human males, focusing mainly on the young boy. The man wanted to lean over to shield and protect Chris from her cold, searching eyes.

Just as he was about to say something, the snake woman's face suddenly broke into a wide smile, showing off her pearly white fangs.

"Humans." She said, her voice smooth and surprisingly comforting. "Welcome to the Ancient City of Ouroboros."

"What..." The man gulp, his throat suddenly as dry as the dusty ground they stood on. "W-What do you want?" He finally asked and the snakes started to snicker as her smile seemed to grow bigger.

"Elementals!"...


	2. Cheating

Lloyd Garmadon panted as he wiped the sweat from his brow and kept his eyes on the soccer ball getting kicked around the Ninjago high school soccer field. He was a teen beta who had long, blonde tousled hair, and brown arched eyebrows with bright emerald green eyes that many people would state could sometimes glow in the dark. He usually wore a dark green jacket with a white sleeveless t-shirt and black pants and black and dark green sneakers.

Today, however, he was wearing the uniform for the high school's soccer team as they had a match against another rival school today.

Then the referee blew his whistle, signaling the game was almost over. While many people in the crowd shouted words of encouragement, some, most of them from Ninjago High groaned in defeat. Time was almost up and they really needed another goal. Unfortunately, the team Lloyd and his school were against was one of the best in the city. As a member of the rival team was about to kick the ball into their net again, Lloyd quickly glanced to make sure no one was watching him before he quietly snapped his fingers.

A tiny flicker of glowing green light, the element of energy, shot out of his fingers and zapped towards the rival's foot.

The player cried in shock as he suddenly tripped up and fell face-first into the grass as the ball slowly rolled away. Not missing a beat, a member of Lloyd's team ran forward and started kicking the ball towards the rival school's goal. It took the rival players a split second to realize what had happened, but by then it was too late. The player from Ninjago High was already by the goal with only the rival goalkeeper in his way. The goalkeeper dove for the soccer ball but the player, thinking quickly, kicked the ball in between the goalkeeper's spread legs.

He maneuvered around the goalkeeper and towards the now unguarded goal.

He kicked the ball into the goal and the referee blew on his whistle for the last time, ending the match. Ninjago High had won the game and was on their way to the finals. The whole of the Ninjago High crowd erupted into loud cheers and applause as they ran onto the field to congratulate their soccer team. As the team received their praise, Lloyd glanced at the bleachers and suddenly froze. Three people had seen him using his elemental powers and he knew they were not happy about it.

They were his close friends and young teachers at the school.

Their names were Cole Brookstone, Jay Walker, and Zane Julien. Jay was a bubbly alpha who had ginger curly hair with brown thin eyebrows and cute light freckles with dark blue eyes. He wore a dark blue jacket over a white t-shirt and black pants. Jay was an English and a science teacher at the high school. Zane was a very tall, cold looking alpha, yet he was a gentle, smart soul. He had light platinum blonde, almost snowy white, hair that stood up straight in something like a crew cut, and bright icy blue eyes that felt like they could freeze a person's very soul.

He wore a sharp, smart, white button-up shirt with a dark blue knitted vest with snowflake designs and white pants.

He taught the students home economics, history, and maths. Cole had an incredibly muscular alpha with long, shaggy black hair and bushy eyebrows with a pair of very dark green eyes. People often said his eyes reminded them of cold emerald stones. He wore a tight black leather jacket and pants with a dark brown tank top with a rock band logo and black heavy-duty boots. He was the school's dance and gym teacher. All three of them were in a romantic relationship with each other, often getting a few jeers and insults from a couple of the students and teachers.

Lloyd could see the anger in their eyes, already hearing the disappointing lectures they would give him later.

Lloyd wasn't the only elemental here at Ninjago High or in this part of the city. These three alphas also possessed power over an element, just like Lloyd, who had power over the element of energy. Cole was an earth elemental, Jay was a lightning elemental and Zane was an ice elemental. The four of them were like family and the three alphas watched over their appointed little brother like guardian angels. Lloyd gulped as he looked away from their gaze, knowing he was seriously going to get it when he was going to get home...

* * *

Lloyd looked down nervously as he sat on the couch in his living room, with Cole, Jay, and Zane staring down at him. Neither his mother and uncle appeared to be anywhere in the Garmadon family home, which he was grateful for. Lloyd didn't know how his family could afford a house as nice as this one. From the outside, the house looked cozy. It had been built hundreds of years ago by his ancestor. The was made with grey stones and has granite decorations with short, wide windows that let in plenty of light.

They had been added to the house in a mostly symmetric way.

The house was equipped with a large kitchen and two modern bathrooms. It also has a cozy living room, four bedrooms, a roomy dining room, a library, and a small storage room. The building was square-shaped and was half surrounded by overgrown wooden overhanging panels. The second floor was the same size as the first and this floor had roughly the same style as the floor below. The roof was low and slanted to one side and was covered with patches of ivy.

One large chimney sat at the side of the house.

A few large windows let in just enough sunlight to the rooms below the roof. The house itself was surrounded by a modest garden, with mostly grass, a few flower patches, and a children's playground that looked like it hadn't been used in years.

"You know the rules." Cole frowned as he and his two boyfriends glared down at the teen. "No powers outside the home."

"But we got through to the final!" He cried. "Isn't that what we always wanted?!"

"Not by using your powers!"

"It wasn't fair Lloyd." Jay scolded as well.

"I just gave him a nudge."

"Was there an elemental on the other team?" Zane asked and Lloyd reluctantly shook his head. "So it was unfair, you cheated." He frowned just as Lloyd's mother, Misako, and his uncle, Wu, entered the room with bags of groceries. Misako Garmadon was an older beta woman. She had long gray hair with one light stripe, which she wore in a French cope and she always wore silver round glasses over her tired chocolate brown eyes. Being an archaeologist, she was wearing a light sand-brown shirt with buttons and pockets.

She had a green scarf around her neck and a brown belt tight around her waist.

Unlike her son or brother-in-law or the three alphas, however, she wasn't an elemental. Lloyd's uncle Wu was an elderly beta man with a long white beard. He normally wore robes with brown sandals and a conical straw hat with a wooden staff left to him by his father. Many strangers believed helped him walk around. He was an elemental master of creation, though unlike the others he rarely used his powers unless absolutely necessary. They both took in the atmosphere in the room and Misako frowned.

"What's going on here?"

"Lloyd here thought it would be a good idea to use his powers to win the soccer game," Jay replied and she sighed in disappointment.

"You have to be more careful, son." She scolded lightly. "Your powers aren't for cheating at sports or for doing your chores around the house."

"Well, that is fine coming from someone with no elemental powers to speak of." Sensei Wu chuckled lightly, flinching when Misako gave him a harsh glare. She may not have any type of elemental powers but Misako was a force to be reckoned with and everyone in this house knew and feared it.

"It was only a game!" Lloyd cried.

"The point is nephew, what happens if someone sees you using your powers?" Sensei Wu frowned. "What if they find out what we are?"

"So what's the point of these powers if you can't have a laugh with them?!"

"The trick is to be careful where you have the fun," Jay replied when Misako suddenly approached with some batteries.

"Jay, would you please help me with this, and please be careful." She asked and he smiled and took the batteries. It wasn't uncommon for one of them to come to Jay with phones or other electronics and ask him to use his lightning to recharge their stuff. Lloyd was about to say something about this but wisely kept his mouth shut, not wanting to get into even more trouble. Jay narrowed his eyes and focused his lightning powers. His blue eyes crackled with his inner power and Lloyd watched in fascination as bright blue zaps of lightning suddenly shot down the ginger man's arm and into the batteries.

Unfortunately, Jay was unleashing too much power.

He ended up losing control of the electricity. Everyone cried out in shock as the electricity zapped around the house, frying a few kitchen appliances and blowing half the light bulbs in the house. All of them could only stand in stunned silence.

"Oops." Jay smiled weakly and nervously as he dropped the now black and smoking batteries on the floor.

"I think we all have things we should be doing in the chamber, right now." Zane quickly suggested and he, his two boyfriends, and Sensei Wu speed-walked into the hallway. They walked to a door a the far end of the hall with small Japanese-looking symbols engraved into it. Lloyd knew that when a non-elemental opened that door they would only find a bare brick wall. He watched as his uncle placed his hand on the door and began chanting in a whisper.

His hand and the symbols on the door suddenly started glowing a bright gold and the door swung open to reveal a long, dark tunnel that was dimly illuminated by flaming torches.

No matter how many times he saw it, it always took the teen's breath away.

"M-Maybe I could come and help with whatever you've got to do down there?" Lloyd asked hopefully.

"You're not ready for this place yet." Jay smiled sympathetically.

"But that's where the important stuff is!"

"Maybe when you stop using your element to cheat, you'll be responsible enough for what's in here," Cole said a bit too harshly before rushing everyone in and shutting the door. As soon as the door was closed the golden glow faded. Lloyd quickly opened the door and was met once again with a brick wall. If he knew what the chant was he could enter the chamber too, but they always whispered it so he couldn't hear it. It infuriated the teen to no end.

Sensing his irritation, Misako walked over to her son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"One day, Lloyd." She promised...


	3. Extraction

Chris's father grunted and growled as he struggled in his chains, glaring at the two Venomari snakes guarding him. After they had seen the alpha snake woman, who they heard some of the other snakes call her 'Princess Skylor', they had been dragged into a dungeon, chained in more vengestone, and left there. He had no idea how long he and Chris had been locked in this dungeon but it felt like forever. A large granite door with a tiny barred window marked the entrance to this dungeon's cell.

Beyond the door was a large, dark, damp room.

The cell they were in was full of rusty chains, rubble, and rat droppings. A single, dim torch allowed them to see carved out words in the stone walls, faded and forgotten by time itself, but neither of them could make out what they said. They both knew, however, that these carvings proved Chris and his father weren't the snake people's first prisoners here. They were sat in silence for a few more hours until a pair of Hypnobrai soldiers suddenly entered the cell.

They looked the two humans over before sharing a looked and grabbing Chris.

His father shouted and struggled harder as they cuffed his son and dragged him out of the cell and away from the dungeon. As he struggled to break his bonds, his father caught the two Venomari talking about him and his son.

"It appearsss no one hasss realized these two elementalsss are missing yet." One of them cackled, hissing on every other word. "Even if they do they'd be too late, they'd never think to look for usss under the ground."

"It is a pitiful choice but has hidden our presence from humans for many generations." The other guard added with a hint of rage in his voice.

"What have you done with my son?!" He suddenly roared. Instead of giving him an answer, the two Venomari laughed at how he cried for his offspring. All he could do was continue to struggle and shout insults at them, fearing for his son's safety...

* * *

Chris trembled in the snake people's grip as he was dragged out of the dark dungeon and through the palace in the center of the underground city until they arrived in what looked like a large throne room. Narrow braziers hanging from each of the eight red alabaster columns that matched the walls lit up most of the throne hall and covered the hall in dancing shadows and a warm radiance. The artistic depictions of legends on the oblique ceiling dance in the flickering light.

Carved images and marble icons look down upon the slate floor of this royal hall.

A violet rug ran down from the throne and split to encircle the entire hall while pennant banners with embellished borders decorated the walls. Between each banner stood a tall candle, all but a few had been lit and in turn illuminated the sculptures of gods and goddesses below them. Broad windows were contoured by veils colored the same violet as the banners. The curtains had been adorned with fine patterns and shining jewels. A striking throne of dark red mahogany sat in front of a large window radiating light onto the throne.

The throne was covered in hundreds of elaborate carvings and fixed on each of the stubby legs was a ruby head of a serpent.

The lavish pillows were a dark violet and these too had been adorned with gilded tracery. At the far right of the throne room was what looked like a tall glass tube attached to the wall. Next to the tube looked like a stone panel with dozens of glowing green and blue crystals sticking out of it, almost like they were buttons. Chris was suddenly forced to stop in the center of the throne room and he saw Skylor staring at him with her cold crimson eyes.

She wasn't alone, however.

By either said of her were two other Anacondrai, one male omega, and one female beta. The male snake omega had tall, thick, spiky, dark purple hair that was shaped like fire and bright red eyes. He had a focused expression on his face, with a scar visible on his right eyebrow and a few fainter scars on his arms and tail. He was wearing dark red and black leather armor. His shoulders were had pointy and quite short pieces of leather to protect them.

They were decorated with a dragon's head on each side.

His upper arms were protected by squared, layered metal rerebraces which sat nicely under the shoulder plates. His lower arms were covered by vambraces which had rows upon rows of small leather pieces, mimicking fish scales. The breastplate was made from many circular layers of leather with pointed edges and decoration pieces. It covered almost everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, where his long snake tail coiled against the ground.

The beta had long dark purple hair that was kept in a high ponytail with red eyes like the other two.

She wore what seemed to be makeup with small dimples on her cheeks, and Chris could swear she had a beauty mark on her right cheek. She was wearing maroon, black, and light blue protective leather armor. Her armor's shoulders were fairly oval, very long and large in size. They were decorated with a wide piece of thick, colored cloth, draped over each shoulder and hanging over the edges. Her upper arms were protected by pointed, half-covering rerebraces which sat well under the shoulder plates.

Her lower arms were covered by vambraces which have layers of colored feathers on the outer sides.

The breastplate was made from many v-shaped layers of leather and fur with squared edges and decoration pieces. It covered everything from the neck down and ending at the groin, but there was a fairly wide neckline that was somewhat exposed. The upper part of her tail was covered by a skirt of vertical layers of leather and fur. Chris also noticed there was a claimed mark on the beta's neck, yet none on the omega. He looked to be in his late teens to early twenties and it was fairly uncommon for an omega to be unclaimed at that age.

Chris just shrugged it off, thinking these creatures worked differently, as he had more important things to worry about.

"Elemental mastersss are ssseldom physically impressive, but they have elemental energy." The omega hummed in thought as he examined the young human before them.

"Get off me! Let me go!" Chris pleaded but none of the serpents acknowledged that they'd heard a single word he'd said.

"Put it into the Extractor." The beta ordered and the two guards dragged the struggling child to the glass tube at the other end of the throne room.

"No! No! No!" Chris screamed as he was forced into the tube and sealed inside. He futilely banged his fists against the thick glass as he watched with wide eyes as the beta slithered over to the crystal control panel. He tried to use his powers, but he paled when he realized that the tube was lined with vengestone.

"Ssstruggle all you wish, child." Skylor laughed at his attempts to free himself. "It will add ssspice to the nourishment."

"Extract the elemental energy!" A voice suddenly boomed throughout the throne room and everyone turned to the throne to see another alpha male Anacondrai had slithered into the room and was sat on the throne, watching Chris with a sadistic smile, showing off his white serpent fangs. The male alpha was wearing an Anacondrai skull atop his head, which itself sported a large purple snake around its own head. It also had skeletal rims attached to it.

He had a mustache-goatee, thick eyebrows, and thick sideburns and hair, all of which were dark purple in color.

He sported dark red robes with golden and black markings, along with purple rims along the midlines. Judging by the way all the other serpents in the throne room bowed down to him, Chris guessed this alpha male was their leader.

"Feed me the elemental energy!" He demanded again, growing more and more impatient.

"Asss the King commandsss, ssso it isss done." The beta bowed respectfully before turning a few of the crystal and the tube suddenly lit up brighter than anything in the throne room. Before Chirs could fully register what was happening he started screaming as his body began to a dim orange color. Everything hurt. His head hurt, his chest hurt, his feet hurt. It felt like something was reaching into his soul and tearing it apart. As he continued to scream, no one noticed the male omega closing his eyes and turning his head away.

After a couple more minutes the glowing and the screams slowly faded and the glass tube opened up, allowing Chris to leave.

All the snakes simply watched as the human stumbled out in a dazed state. Some even snickered at him. Instead of a young human boy, the human stumbling out into the throne room was an elderly man. Chris was now covered in deep wrinkles, liver spots, and snowy-white hair. As Chris stood there, trembling in horror, the serpentine watched as the orange energy flow from the top of the tube and into the giant crystal hanging from the high ceiling.

The young elemental was drained.

"Dad?" Chris mumbled pitifully as his wide, terrified eyes looked around in momentary confusion. He noticed his voice was deeper and somewhat shaky. When he looked at his reflection in the glass of the tube he gasped as he ran his trembling fingers over his aged face. "What have you monsters done to me?" He whimpered, feeling the tears flowing over his new wrinkles. They all ignored him, however, and bowed to the king.

"Isss my father sssatisfied?" Skylor smiled.

"You all have done very well.' He cackled, his evil laughter echoing throughout the throne room and the entire palace. "We will find every elemental master on thisss planet and the Ssserpentine ssshall feast forever!"...


	4. Let the Hunt Begin

The next morning Zane took his class on a trip to the Elemental Sphere. Lloyd was in that class and Jay was also there to assist Zane since his usual assistant had called in sick. While the two teachers explained the basic rules of the trip, a couple of students snickered behind their backs, and some fake yawned. Lloyd knew that the circle was important to his people, but that didn't mean he didn't find it boring.

"And remember, the Elemental Sphere is a heritage monument," Zane warned as the students gathered around the stone circle. "It is neither a climbing frame nor a Neolithic chalkboard."

"It's just a bunch of grimy old rocks." Chad Park, a popular student, and jock shrugged in boredom as he looked around the tall rocks. He had smooth, cherry brown hair and bright green eyes. He wore dark blue jeans and a blue Ninjago High jersey jacket. He was well known to be a jerk and the only reason Cole hadn't kicked him off the soccer team was that he was their best player and his father was on the school board.

"It's better than being stuck in a class all day," Lloyd muttered under his breath.

"Actually, the stone circle is a Neolithic observatory," Jay explained. "The stones are all positioned to line up with specific stars at particular dates."

"Like astrology?"

"Actually, it's more like astronomy," Zane replied as he handed out clipboards and pens to the students. "This way children and I want detailed notes." He instructed as the students began to break off into their own little friend groups and started wandering around the clearing.

"You better hurry up, Garmadork! Mr. Julien and Mr. Walker'll be lonely without their little pet!" Chad laughed cruelly before he headed off with his friends, leaving Lloyd alone. With not many friends, Lloyd had no choice but to follow Jay and Zane as they talked with the bookworms of the class. As they walked around, Brad Tudabone spoke up. He was a male alpha that was the same age as Lloyd with black hair and pale green eyes. He wore a pale v-neck sweater with a white shirt underneath, a green tie, and black pants.

"I always thought standing stones were put up by Druids, people like that, magical ceremonies." He said, not taking his eyes off the stones.

"Come on, magic rocks? How boring is that?" Harumi Jade, another alpha, huffed. Harumi had long bleached white hair with long bangs fashioned in a bun with chopsticks stuck through it. She wore a dark green jacket with matching pants, a white shirt with red lotus flowers printed on it, and full lips painted red. Since she was known to cause trouble in class, Zane told her she had to stay with him and Jay. Either that or receive detention and extra homework.

"No, that's cool," Brad argued.

"You think so?" Lloyd asked, trying not to smile. He might never admit it, but Lloyd had a small, innocent crush on Brad but knew the alpha boy didn't feel the same way.

"Yeah, of course, it is, magic's like a load of old Hogwarts stuff." He smiled and Lloyd deflated slightly, wishing he could talk to someone his age about his elemental powers. He loved his family and he knew Cole, Jay, and Zane would always be there for him, but it wasn't the same thing as talking to a fellow teenager. As the group started to talk about the stones again, Lloyd wandered off to the center where he noticed a wooden bowl on the stone slab.

Neither Jay nor Zane had noticed it yet.

He looked into the bowl and noticed the remnants of some kind of mixture he couldn't identify. It looked like it had been there all night and watery ink. He was about to go and find Jay or Zane something shiny caught his eye. He looked down and saw something shiny in the grass. After checking to make sure no one was looking, Lloyd bent down and picked up a silver ring with a large amber jewel. The second he touched the ring, he was suddenly hit with images.

They were images of a man and child screaming and this loud sound of hissing, almost like a dozen snakes were sitting next to his ears.

He gasped as soon as the images stopped a second later.

"Lloyd, are you all right?" Jay asked as he and Brad walked over to the blonde-haired teen.

"Something happened here." He muttered, still in shock.

"What are you talking about?" Brad asked.

"What's going on?" Zane asked as he and a few others also approached.

"He just went a bit... weird." Brad replied before turning back to Lloyd "You said something happened here?" He asked again as Lloyd began to come out of his shock and realized almost everyone was staring at him.

"I mean, in the past... like human sacrifice." He quickly covered up, sneaking the ring into his pocket before anyone noticed. His eyes met with Jay and the Lightning Elemental nodded in understanding before looking to his boyfriend. The Ice Elemental got the message and cleared his throat to get the other students' attention away from Lloyd.

"Now, the purpose of the stone circle, like Stonehenge, is unclear; there have been many theories over the years but nobody really knows." He continued and started leading the students around the stone circle. "Some people say they're landing pads for alien spacecraft."

"How's that for an explanation? There's no such thing as aliens." One of the students asked, but everyone ignored them.

"I want measurements and sketches in teams of three, now off you go," Jay instructed and all the students reluctantly obeyed. Due to Zane stopping her from pairing up with her best friends or any other popular kids and everyone else finding a group, Harumi had no choice but to pair up with Lloyd and Brad.

"Come on, let's get on with it." Lloyd sighed.

"Looks like we're a team, so no messing about," Brad warned them. "Just because you guys don't care about your grades doesn't mean I have to miss out."

"Being stuck with you losers is so lame." Harumi groaned as they started following the teachers' instructions. While they were doing that, Lloyd felt his mind go and forth between the ring in his pocket and the feeling of dread settling in his stomach...

* * *

Kai sighed in boredom as he examined his sharp, dark purple claws. After last night's extraction, all of Ouroboros had been celebrating the delicious meal the young earth Elemental had provided them. The king and the children would feast well tonight, especially after they drain the metal Elemental later today. He sighed as he thought about the children and their families. It was had been a single omega male. Being one of the last few Anacondrai was even worse.

All the other serpentine either feared him or King Chen would forbid them from trying to court him.

After the wars ended, causing most of the Anacondrai to die out, including Kai's parents, only Kai, Nya, Chen, Skylor, and Pythor were left. Ever since then Kind Chen had been almost obsessed with preserving the Anacondrai genes. But that met there weren't many suitors around. Skylor and Nya were already mated but decided to put off having children until Skylor was crowned Queen and Pythor had been mated to a Pyro Viper since before the war but they also said they weren't ready for children.

Until Chen could guarantee that any offspring Kai or Pythor produced would be Anacondrai then they were forbidden to have children of their own.

That really hurt Kai more than he would ever admit. He loved children, from raising Nya after their parents' deaths, and he often volunteered to take care of the children if their parents would too busy. All of a sudden all the sirens started to wail loudly. Kai immediately slithered over to one of the many observation orbs to see what was happening as the serpentine generals, King Chen, Skylor and Nya rushed in.

"We are detecting a ssspike of elemental energy in the Elemental Sssphere." He said as soon as they entered. "It ssseemsss sssomeone hasss fallen for our trap."

"Ssskylor, investigate thisss reading," Chen ordered.

"Asss the King commandsss, ssso it isss done." She bowed and started tracking their energy signature.

"But my lord, I found the elementalsss," Kai argued.

"And Ssskylor isss my offspring and heir." Chen snarled and Kai bowed his head in fear. "Ssshe will be the leader of our kind with her mate by her ssside and you, Kai, will not."

"I have locked onto the elementalsss, Father," Skylor said. Chen grinned and turned to the Hypnobrai general.

"Ssskalesss! You know what to do." He cackled. Skales bowed and his red eyes started spiraling. Everyone watched a red orb that showed the Elemental Sphere through the eyes of a small, cobra snake they had left behind last night. The snake slithered through the grass until it found Chad standing behind the bus away from the others, smoking a cigarette away from the teachers. The snake sneaked over to the jock and the second they made eye contact, Chad froze.

Instantly Skales' eyes began to glow and the spirals moved faster.

Chad's eyes started to turn red as his arms fell limp to his sides. After a few seconds, the red glow faded but Chad still had a blank face as he stood up straight and stiff like a stone statue.

"A human has been acquired." He smirked and, using his power of hypnosis, Skales manipulated Chad to look to the left and then look to the right. "I now have full control." He told the king, only to grimace as he forced Chad to walk. "These humans are disgusting, they smell of sweat and meat."

"Concentrate," Nya growled. Skales glared at her but knew better than to say anything and focused on the task at hand. He made Chad walk around the bus towards the class. His eyes began to scan over everyone until they zeroed in on Jay and Zane who were at the front talking to the teens and telling them it was time to get on the bus to go home. As soon as they located their targets, all the serpentine turned to the king, who just laughed sinisterly.

"Let the hunt begin."...


End file.
